[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 13, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING THE MOORE FAMILY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DOUG LAMBORN

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 13, 2011

  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize an exemplary Colorado 
family: Nelson and Cruz Moore and their children, Rachel and Jacob. I 
would like to express my gratitude to the Moore family for their 
service to the State of Colorado. They have taken upon themselves to 
care for and preserve a culturally and historically significant Jewish 
gravesite in Cotopaxi, Colorado.
  Cotopaxi, Colorado is the site of the unsuccessful Jewish 
agricultural resettlement effort of 1882-1884. It was the first Jewish 
American agricultural colony sponsored as part of the American Jewish 
aid movement through the Hebrew Emigrant Aide Society. The Jewish 
settlers endured difficult circumstances as they sought to establish 
themselves as farmers in Cotopaxi. Despite assistance from the local 
Christian community, the Jewish agricultural community still failed due 
to the harsh Colorado winters, unsuitable terrain, and the lack of 
promised housing and provisions by their local sponsor. Today, all that 
is left of the colony is the small graveyard of three Jewish children 
that lost their lives during the first winter of the attempted 
settlement. A historic marker has been erected by the Jewish American 
Society for Historic Preservation telling the story of the colony, 
helping preserve its memory, and highlighting the friendship of the two 
groups, united as Americans.
  At the Cotopaxi grave site, Moore cleared the overgrown grasses and 
stabilized the area. He placed decorative stones around the three 
Jewish graves taken from a local silver mine that some of the Jewish 
men worked in. He also created and arranged the stones in the shape of 
the Star of David in the middle of the three graves. The Moore family 
is continuing their Christian friendship for the Jewish people, even 
though it has been 130 years since the Jewish settlers first arrived in 
Cotopaxi. The memory of these immigrants is honored and carried on 
through the Moore family's efforts to preserve the history of Colorado 
and America.
  I am honored to acknowledge and to thank them publicly for their 
exemplary dedication and Christian friendship with the Jewish people.

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